Eastern and central North America, from southern Canada through much of the eastern United States.
Fine-art photographic collection
Augochlora pura
A metallic sweat bee that mines its nursery into wet, decaying wood.
About this species
Pure Green Sweat Bee
Augochlora pura(Say, 1837)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Most familiar sweat bees nest in soil, but Augochlora pura excavates branching burrows in soft rotten logs. Females sculpt individual brood cells in a material that is simultaneously food-rich, damp and vulnerable to microbes.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Hymenoptera · Halictidae · Augochlora
Accepted species or infraspecific taxon in the current GBIF/Catalogue of Life treatment; unsupported details have been omitted rather than inferred. · checked 2026-07-15
Eastern North AmericaBroad documented range and selected occurrence localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Woodland and woodland edges with rotting logs or stumps and nearby flowers.
Adults are active through the warmer months.
Adults take nectar; females collect pollen for brood cells.
Primarily solitary, with each female provisioning her own nest.
What makes this species remarkable?
A female tunnels directly into moist, decomposing wood—an exceptional nesting material among North American sweat bees.
She lines each brood cell with a waterproof, wax-like secretion before adding a pollen loaf and laying a single egg.
Several females may nest within the same log, yet each still excavates and provisions her own independent brood system.